5 Strong Women From The Bible

There are many great examples of strong women in the Bible to learn from. Here are five strong women with a summary of their story.

Jael – Judges 4

Sisera was pursued by the people of Israel at the request of Deborah the Judge. When the Israelites came at Sisera with 10,000 men, Sisera fled. Israel was routing Sisera and his army when Sisera broke off from his men and fled alone. He came to the tent of Jael.

Jael knew who Sisera was and invited him into her tent to hide. He asked for some water to drink. Jael, in her cunningly kind way, gave Sisera a bottle of milk. After enjoying his milk—like many people—he went fast to sleep.

Jael sneaked into the tent with a tent peg and hammer. The Bible says that she drove the nail through his temple and pegged his head to the ground. Of course he was dead by the time the pursuing army found him.

[Should I be concerned that this is my wife’s favorite story in the Bible?]

Hannah – 1 Samuel 1

... as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD (1 Samuel 1:28)

Hannah was barren. She wanted a son but God had not granted her one. She begged the Lord for a child. In return she promised to dedicate this young man to God’s service. Her son was born and she followed through on her promise. She took the child to Eli the priest and left him to be raised in the Temple. She continued to have influence over the boy’s life through the years.

Her son grew up to be Samuel—one of the most influential and godly men in the Bible.

Abigail – 1 Samuel 25

Abigail was the wife of a wicked and self-centered man named Nabal. David (who had been anointed king, but had not yet taken office) sent servants to kindly ask Nabal to show hospitality to him and his servants. David’s servants had been companions and protectors of Nabal’s shepherds. Nabal’s response was that David was lazy and presumptuous. David, who was traveling with his men after the burial of Samuel, was angered at Nabal’s reply. David prepared his men for a fight.

Abigail heard what transpired between Nabal and the servants of David. She loaded up a feast and went to meet David along the way. She had hoped that her actions would calm David so that he would spare her family from death. David agreed to spare the family for Abigail’s sake.

Nabal, thinking himself to be someone special because he told David to take a hike, threw a big party for himself. He was drunk and unable to protect himself. The next morning Abigail told Nabal that she had taken an offering to David and by doing so turned back the king and his 400 soldiers. Nabal was shocked to learn that his whole household could have been destroyed. So shocked, in fact, that the Bible says his heart died within him and he became as stone. Within 10 days he was dead.

When David heard the news that Nabal was dead he sent for Abigail to become his wife. David saw within her a virtue of honesty and desire to protect her family.

Esther – Esther 1-8

In the book of Esther, Esther was a Jewish woman who was selected by the Persian King Ahasuerus to be his wife. He had banished his former wife and chose Esther through a contest. However, the king did not know she was a Jew.

When the king’s right-hand man, Haman, devised a plan to kill the Jews, Ether’s uncle Mordecai found out. He went to Esther and asked her to go before the king and ask that the family of Israel be spared. Though Esther was the queen she did not have the right to lay her case before the king without an invitation. King Ahasuerus had not called for her presence in over a month. She knew that going before him uninvited could mean death.

Mordecai convinced Esther that she may have been brought to the position she was in by God for the purpose of saving her own people. She agreed to go before the king without an invitation even if it meant death.

By inviting the king and wicked Haman to her house for a meal Esther planned a way to tell the king of Haman’s plot to destroy her family. She won the king’s favor and invited he and Haman to her house the next day. Between the two meals Haman grew more angry with Mordecai and the Jews. When Esther revealed to the king that Haman planned to kill her family the king had Haman hung on the gallows that were built for Modecai.

Lois and Eunice – 2 Timothy 1

The Bible does not tell us much about Lois and Eunice, but what little it says speaks volumes for their character. One verse, 2 Timothy 1:5 says: (Speaking about why Paul gives thanks to God for Timothy) “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

Paul was telling Timothy that he was thankful for the young man and that he saw great character in who Timothy would become. The book talks often about the things Timothy had been taught, or the things he had learned. Certainly Paul was talking about the things that Timothy learned from Paul, but it can also be assumed that Timothy’s grandmother Lois and mother Eunice taught Timothy many things about the Bible as they seemed to be diligent students of God’s Word as well.

These stories of great women in the Bible are still inspirational to women today.

What is your favorite story of a Woman from the Bible? Share in the comments below!

David Peach has been in full time missions work with the Deaf since 1994. He has started several deaf ministries in various countries and established a deaf church in Mexico. David now works as Director of Deaf Ministries for his mission board.

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My favourite woman is the shunamite woman see 2 Kings 4:8-37
It is by faith she told her husband and the prophet that it well with her and her family that is the words of faith by a true belivers.
Never use negative words.See proverbs 18:21

1. Rizpah in 2 samuel 3, she took time in the mountain to pray for her generation that the curse upon the family will be broken. For sure it was when Kind David called for her and lifted the shamed,separation e.t.c from the generation. ” she prayed for her generation and they were blessed”

2. Shiphrah and Pauh in Exodus 1, women who feared the Lord, even after being commanded by the king to kill the Hebrew babies, they didn’t do it. When asked the Lord gave them an answer to the king and thus the Lord blessed their household.
” Fear the Lord and your household will be blessed”

2 Kings Chapter Verses 8 -10
The one moment in The Bible when a woman is called great and I wonder why the writer didn’t mention her name????

8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

9 And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passes by us continually.

10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray you, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in thither.

Hello Shawn, Yes, you may use this content for your Ladies Bible Study. Please be sure to credit WhatChristiansWantToKnow.com as the source of this information (and of course the Bible too). Thanks for asking permission.

My friend. Pastors are supposed to do the hard work to study and show thyself approved of God. As a pastor, I would recommend you do your own sermon preparation as you must take notes, find Scriptures to use and then prepare the sermon. Anyone that is sent a sermon is gaining the fruit of another man’s labor. Does that make sense?

Hi. I am wondering if Your site has the same analytical article on New Testament women? I am writing a church musical in which in one of the scenes, the main character meets women characters during Jesus’s time and changes her perception of life through their dedication and work for the faith. Better yet if you have articles of women who’s character had been dubious prior to their encounter with Jesus, but had changed their lives through his love and teachings. God bless

Abigail was a good woman who was given wisdom by God her creator. She did not argue with her husband but take action to protect her family. She has faith that if she can give sacrifice to the King and his servants things will go back to normal. Indeed, God saw her heart and arrested David,’so heart for him not to say no but yes .

I love Ruth for her dedication to her husband’s people if daughters were good to their mother in laws we will have a great family time.
Mothers too need to be considerate with their children’s spouses the way you treat them they will take care f your children a lesson my mother taught me.and Ruth is my example, as a result, I try to be the Ruth to my Mum in law despite my adverse culture I love this lady and related to her as I claimed my mother in laws God as my God.
Another lady I admire is Esther , she was placed for the time to be advocate for her voiceless silenced people, so we, too who are placed in roles and power circles ned to speak up for the wrong and for the oppressed or else our privileges are void God places us in high places thus we do not be silent when wrong happens so there.

I enjoy reading about the women of the Bible cause the same God they served we are serving today Ruth was a good wife and the loyalty was awesome.Abigail was a woman that help her husband inspite of but God know she deserve better.

You missed a critical piece of why Abigail is one of the most selfless and faithful individuals in scripture – – she not only interceded to save her family (which is noble in itself), but her purpose was also to save David from sin, because she knew he was still clean before the Lord…

“as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand…and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.”

She was protecting David from committing a grievous sin – that is truly selfless! wow.

Greetings Readers, if I may. I have two that I women I would like to briefly touch on. The first is from the OT and she is Deborah. I am truly inspires because she is like myself and many other women today. Deborah wore many hats (Kingdom Builder – Prophetess, Wife – Ebenezer & Authority Figure – Judge). In simplicity she was graced with wisdom to mutli-tasks. For the Father knows how many talents to bless his servants with. The second woman is Anna in the NT. There is not said about Anna. However, the little that is said, to me is a revealing of the OT Deborah. Anna wore many hats also (Faithful Kingdom Builder – Prophetess, Wife & Widow – Ebenezer, Kingdom & Kingdom Resident – Worshipping, Fasting & Praying). O how wonderful it is to see yourself in the Word of God as it reads you. Because, you do know if you are meditating in the Word correctly, We are not reading it, it is reading us. To God Be The Glory!

Hello Patricia. was the wife of Nabal; she became a wife of the future King David after Nabal’s death (1 Samuel 25). Abigail was David’s third wife, after Saul’s daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married to Palti, son of Laish when David went into hiding, and Ahinoam. She became the mother of one of David’s sons, who is listed in the Book of Chronicles under the name Daniel. In 1 Samuel 25, Nabal demonstrates ingratitude towards David, and Abigail attempts to placate David in order to stop the future King from taking revenge. She gives him food, and speaks to him, urging him not to “have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed” (verse 31, NIV) and reminding him that God will make him a “lasting dynasty” (verse 28). Jon Levenson calls this an “undeniable adumbration” of Nathan’s prophecy in 2 Samuel 7.[5] Alice Bach notes that Abigail pronounces a “crucial prophecy,” and the Talmud regards her as one of the Tanakh’s seven female prophets. Levenson, however, suggests that she “senses the drift of history” from intelligence rather than from special revelation.

After Abigail reveals to Nabal what she has done, “God struck Nabal and he died,” (v.38), after which David married her. Abigail is described as intelligent and beautiful. The Talmud amplifies this idea, mentioning her as being one of the “four women of surpassing beauty in the world,” (the other three being Rahab, Sarah, and Esther). As the wife of the wealthy Nabal, she is also a woman of high socioeconomic status. Whether David married her because he was attracted to her, or as an astute political move, or both is unclear

Abigail and David’s second wife, Ahinoam the Jezreelite, accompany David and his war band as they seek refuge in Philistine territory. While David and his men are encamped near Jezreel, they are captured by Amalekites who raided the town of Ziglak and carried off the women and children. David led the pursuit, and they were subsequently rescued. Both wives then settle with David in Hebron, where Abigail gives birth to David’s second son, Chileab (also called Daniel).

Abigail is also listed as one of the seven Jewish women prophets, the other six being Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Sarah, Huldah,and Esther. In terms of her moral character, Abraham Kuyper argues that Abigail’s conduct indicates “a most appealing character and unwavering faith,”[10] but Alice Bach regards her as subversive

One of my favorite women in the Bible is found in 2Kings 4.
The Shunammite woman. The determination, the self control she exhibits in the face of the death of her son is amazing. To say it is well, and never giving in to death is awesome. She made up her mind no one could restore her son but the Profit Elisha and she would not leave unless he return with her.

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